HUGHTON - 'IT'S A WONDERFUL FEELING'

A DELIGHTED Chris Hughton has praised the performance of his team after they overcame the challenge of Manchester United to win 1-0 in the Barclays Premier League at Carrow Road.

Anthony Pilkington’s sensational second half header gave the Canaries a well-deserved lead that they never looked like letting go despite Sir Alex Ferguson’s star-studded side’s best efforts.

It was City’s third consecutive clean sheet, and stretches their unbeaten run to an incredible six games – including wins over United, Spurs, Arsenal, and Stoke.

Hughton told Canaries Player: “It’s a wonderful feeling and more so because I thought over the 90 minutes, when you’re up against the players that they’ve got, with all the changes they can make, it’s a really tough day to keep a clean sheet.

“I thought we restricted them to minimal chances and I can’t really think of a clear cut opening that they had.

“Certainly not like we had towards the end with Jonny Howson which could have made it 2-0. Every single one of the players were excellent today, every single one of them.

“It was a great cross for the goal, and I thought he played really well today, Anthony Pilkington.

“He is a threat once he gets in that final third. It was an excellent header, I don’t think the goalkeeper had much of a chance with that one.”

The result will have been even more welcome with the news that both Southampton and Reading both won in the 3pm kick-offs, but with 14 points from 12 games the Canaries have risen to 13th in the league, level on points with Newcastle.

Hughton added: “It has been a wonderful time for us recently, but we have to play like this every game.

“We don’t have the qualities that the top teams have, we have to battle for everything that we get, and if we’re able to put in these types of performances then we’ll get more wins.

“At the moment there’s a real feel good factor in that changing room.

“You enjoy it more when the results are going for you, and it’s good to hear that the fans like what they see on the pitch.

“I thought the supporters were fabulous today, and I’m glad they enjoyed what they saw. We know it’s tougher on the road, and you have to make your home territory a tough place for the opposition to come, and we did that today.”